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We believe strongly in Requests for Proposals (RFPs) as a tool for companies to find the best products and services at competitive prices, but also as an evaluation method for finding that elusive "best fit". However, too often the RFP process is run by people who have never experienced the process before, either from the issuer or vendor side, and essentially don't know what to say or what to ask. MORE

I was somewhat shocked to find out that my 14-year-old daughter had searched YouTube recently for any mention of her dear old dad. She stumbled across a video that included a recent mention of my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. Isn’t it just amazing how easy it is in today’s world for our children to get the goods on their parents? But, excuse me, I’m digressing. With it. MORE

There is a lot of talk these days that personalization is back in marketing but what does that really mean and what are some of the tactics you can use? This is important : Besides all of the technology out there that can make this process easier, it’s important to keep in mind that the goal is to create engaging experiences for your customers and potential customers so that they will respond and ultimately purchase your products and services. personalized approach facilitates this process. I've listed the top tactics that I typically discuss in my day to day client meetings. What do you do? MORE

I've been using the term "Digital Body Language" on this blog quite a lot for obvious reasons. However, I have not really taken a moment to define the term, as I realized recently after a presentation on the topic. So what is it? What we are referring to when we talk about Digital Body Language is the aggregate of all the digital activity you see from an individual. MORE

The next interview in the B2B Marketing thought leader interview series is with Terry Whalen, a partner at CPC Search , a full-service SEM agency that optimizes PPC campaigns on behalf of its clients. This interview is focused on search engine marketing as it relates specifically to B2B. Prior to running CPC Search, Terry led marketing initiatives at Citrix’s GoToMyPC, and before that he received his MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. How is B2B PPC campaign management different from B2C? Picture an e-commerce company selling products via credit card on its website. MORE

Tweet. One of the most fun aspects of marketing planning can be brainstorming. Here are ways to make sure your marketing brainstorming is fun and productive. 1. Invite the right people. Don’t brainstorm in a marketing silo. Invite others who deal with your customers, including customer service, product development, sales, distributors and possibly suppliers or strategic alliance partners. Worst? MORE

Pete Krainik of the CMO Club posted thirteen books that members of the CMO club have recommended. Great list : Breakthrough Marketing Plans: How to Stop Wasting Time and Start Driving Growth. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant. Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur. Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. Leading Change. Marketing Champions: Practical Strategies for Improving Marketing's Power, Influence, and Business Impact. MORE

Research shows that about 80% of leads marketers generate end up getting lost, ignored or discarded. So, instead of continually struggling to find new leads for Sales, marketers should begin focusing on developing effective lead management processes for converting more leads into sales pipeline. In fact, in a recent lead generation poll I conducted through my LinkedIn group, I found that converting leads to pipeline revenue was the biggest challenge for marketers. The key is to look back at your past marketing activities to find the gold that’s been lost in the Sales and Marketing pipelines. MORE

We're frequently asked for any tips we might have for people writing proposal responses to Requests for Proposals (RFP) that they've received. After finding us through the RFP Database , seeing the abundance of RFPs that it contains, and knowing that all of those RFPs are open competitions, the natural question is "if I'm going to spend time writing a proposal it has got to be a winner". Faced with the situation of having to read 300+ pages of different vendors' proposals many people read the first page and then start skimming, and if they're not skimming, their minds are probably going numb. MORE

The situation: A potentially juicy RFP falls into your lap. You try not to get too excited because you know that creating a winning proposal can be an expensive and time-consuming affair. Before you get invested in the project proposal you want to determine whether this is, in fact, a worthwhile project for you to chase, or one that you should pass. Companies should always be taking a hard look and evaluating their leads as a way of increasing their win percentage and return on investment (proposal writing), but this is especially important in today's tough economic environment. MORE

Do you hesitate to jump on the social media bandwagon with your company? Concerned about what happens when an employee shares insider information? Social media is inherently dynamic, even chaotic. Provide no guidance and you likely end up damaging your brand. Be too restrictive and your social media initiative will never take off, putting you at a competitive disadvantage. Clear policies help you better navigate this new communication channel and provide guidance to your audience as to what is ok to post and what isn't. MORE

I’m probably biased, but I believe the primary objective of business-to-business marketing is driving sales of the company’s products and services. Of course branding and awareness are also roles that can be played effectively by B2B marketing, but from my point of view these are only supporting roles—secondary to the primary objective of helping drive sales. Yet many of these same companies eventually come to the realization that not every prospective customer is ready to buy now. What’s all this have to do with social media? about a survey they recently conducted. Not bad! MORE

At a recent ANA conference I was interviewing Brian Wallace VP of Digital Marketing and Media for RIM when I heard him say “2 years from now- if I still have a Director of Social Media – I should be fired! and after thinking about that I can’t help but agree with him. Said differently how do we make social part of the very DNA of the firm? What’s your view? Tweet This! Digg this! MORE

What should be the offer on your B2B’s landing page, for visitors clicking through from a pay per click ad? Many software and SaaS companies think that a downloadable trial version of their product is just the ticket. Why not just cut to the chase, and sidestep all that messy nurturing? And after all, our product [.]. MORE

HOME | RSS FEEDS | SITEMAP | CLIENT ZONE | CONTACT US Who we are What we do Our clients About Velocity Our blog The B2B Content Marketing Workbook.by Doug Kessler Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 Your prospects are being buffeted by a firehose of information. If you’re hoping to win their attention, you’d better be prepared to earn it. Content Marketing is your way to cut through the noise and hop over the barriers. So we hope you don’t mind our asking for a little info (it’s worth it) and we promise not to spam you. Add Comment Click here to cancel reply. Come and get it! MORE

Needless to say, Marketing Automation software is very popular today. It can be used for email campaigns, drip marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, landing page management and for brewing coffee. It is often positioned as something that will solve all your marketing problems for a couple of thousand dollars per month. Okay, I made up the part about brewing coffee. Unclear Prospect Profile(s). MORE

I seldom write personal posts but I'm making an exception to share my joy. Lydia Faith Carroll was born on 7/8/09. She is 7lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. Mindy and Lydia are doing great! Lydia getting some rest : ). Our first family photo with Lydia. happy family of five! feel very grateful and blessed MORE

This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals. My guest today is Stephanie Miller , email expert and co-author of Sign me up! Marketer’s Guide To Email Newsletters That Build Relationships and Boost Sales. Stephanie describes herself as a customer advocate who, through her work with email performance company Return Path , helps marketers reach the inbox and connect with prospects and customers via email and social marketing. Witness your own Junk folder. Yikes! MORE

Tweet. One of the networks I belong to, ProVisors , advocates the use of one-sheets or one-pagers that describe each member’s differentiators and the benefits of the service(s) they provide. See samples at the end of this post.) These one-sheets are important, because in each ProVisors meeting there are about thirty different service providers giving their elevator pitch to the group. The Grabber. MORE

We get it. From writing technical bulletins for your sales force to composing a speech for your CEO, our technically oriented staff of engineers, account managers and marketers will produce deliverables that make sense for your business with results you can measure. We are distinctive due to our technical aptitude , industry knowledge and business acumen. Combined with a comprehensive portfolio of marketing tools and top-notch creative, these attributes enable us to develop innovative strategies and compelling concepts that accurately and effectively position your products and services. MORE

Subscribe by RSS InboundMarketing.com Home News Jobs Forums University Search this site: Home Inbound Marketing University Posted May 5th, 2009 by Rick Burnes Register for IMU | Class Schedule | Professors | Student Tools | IMU Badges | Partners | Student Bulletin Board >>Click here to attend this weeks classes! **By clicking the above link, you will have access to the upcoming and recorded webinars. NOTE: If you have not registered for IMU, you will be prompted to register when clicking the above link! The IMU program includes ten webinar classes and one review session. No problem. MORE

Even though some vendors have been around for almost 10 years, Marketing Automation is still relatively new. According to Forrester, only 2-5% of B2B firms have invested in full-featured Marketing Automation. But that percentage is rapidly growing. Increasingly, B2B companies realize that Marketing Automation software requires skilled operators. But – if you decide to hire a Marketing Automation manager – what should you look for, and where do you find them? New technology requires people with a new set of skills, nothing new about that. But that’s for web analysts. MORE

There are many things that work well in the Webinar invitation below from Salesforce.com, but one of my favorite elements is the smallest: the link at the top left corner that reads: “View on a PDA.” Click and you’re linked to a hosted, plain text, narrow-column version of the same message. In a [.]. MORE

With all the micro-blogging, I’ve often wondered whether the number of bloggers who actually create original, substantial content is decreasing. Don’t get me wrong, you can create meaningful thought in 140 characters, but it’s a lot easier to write 140 characters (no matter how well crafted) than it is to consistently create original content for [.]. MORE

The topic of Quality vs. Quantity in demand gen has been a constant debate. Whether it's inbound marketing or outbound marketing there are costs associated with a lead, there are costs associated with the time and effort needed to convert that lead to an opportunity, and there are costs tied to the quality of those leads and how that impacts conversion rates. As David Greenberg, Sr. Quality Vendor. MORE

Big thanks to Mike O'Grady at Stella Pop for putting out the latest edition of eVidmagazine featuring yours truly. Although Mike was originally thinking a two or three minute video interview, he decided that the video worked best as a 10 minute segment. Hey, he's the expert, so I'm not going to disagree with him. In simplest terms, that's what it means to be a publisher. hmmm, why not? MORE

I spent most of last week helping an engineering firm prepare for an important shortlist interview. While each interview is different, there are some common themes in my approach. Some of my advice seems to diverge from the conventional wisdom in our industry. Yet I've enjoyed good success and my discussions with clients have validated my ideas about the process. That won't help you create comfort. MORE

In any number of recent posts, we’ve always included LinkedIn in our Holy Trinity of B2B-useful social-media networks. Recently, Dianna Huff took another look at LinkedIn in her guest-post for Savvy B2B Marketing and concluded: “In the last year or so, LinkedIn has significantly increased its functionality – making the business networking site a great way [.]. MORE

an interesting post by steve johnson talks about marketing not being a list, but rather an approach to solving customers problems and helping buyers to buy. as marketers, we sometimes fall victims of the routine day-to-day tactical MORE

Recently, I've been spending a lot of time evaluating and writing web copy for clients. Not only have I discovered that I really love this type of work, but I am also seeing common trends of what websites do well and where they could do better. It should go without saying that your website should be aimed at your prospects and customers, but, perhaps surprisingly or not, this isn't often the case. MORE

There were days in my lead gen life where I could have easily left for lunch and not come back for four hours. MIT data shows that that might have been a good idea! Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power just highlighted last year's MIT / InsideSales.com study of outbound prospecting lead conversion. It got me thinking. Layer the times together and stagger them for time zone. MORE

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The topic of Quality vs. Quantity in demand gen has been a constant debate. Whether it's inbound marketing or outbound marketing there are costs associated with a lead, there are costs associated with the time and effort needed to convert that lead to an opportunity, and there are costs tied to the quality of those leads and how that impacts conversion rates. As David Greenberg, Sr. Quality Vendor.

We believe strongly in Requests for Proposals (RFPs) as a tool for companies to find the best products and services at competitive prices, but also as an evaluation method for finding that elusive "best fit". However, too often the RFP process is run by people who have never experienced the process before, either from the issuer or vendor side, and essentially don't know what to say or what to ask.

Even though some vendors have been around for almost 10 years, Marketing Automation is still relatively new. According to Forrester, only 2-5% of B2B firms have invested in full-featured Marketing Automation. But that percentage is rapidly growing. Increasingly, B2B companies realize that Marketing Automation software requires skilled operators. But – if you decide to hire a Marketing Automation manager – what should you look for, and where do you find them? New technology requires people with a new set of skills, nothing new about that. But that’s for web analysts.

I was somewhat shocked to find out that my 14-year-old daughter had searched YouTube recently for any mention of her dear old dad. She stumbled across a video that included a recent mention of my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. Isn’t it just amazing how easy it is in today’s world for our children to get the goods on their parents? But, excuse me, I’m digressing. With it.

I've been using the term "Digital Body Language" on this blog quite a lot for obvious reasons. However, I have not really taken a moment to define the term, as I realized recently after a presentation on the topic. So what is it? What we are referring to when we talk about Digital Body Language is the aggregate of all the digital activity you see from an individual.

We get it. From writing technical bulletins for your sales force to composing a speech for your CEO, our technically oriented staff of engineers, account managers and marketers will produce deliverables that make sense for your business with results you can measure. We are distinctive due to our technical aptitude , industry knowledge and business acumen. Combined with a comprehensive portfolio of marketing tools and top-notch creative, these attributes enable us to develop innovative strategies and compelling concepts that accurately and effectively position your products and services.

At a recent ANA conference I was interviewing Brian Wallace VP of Digital Marketing and Media for RIM when I heard him say “2 years from now- if I still have a Director of Social Media – I should be fired! and after thinking about that I can’t help but agree with him. Said differently how do we make social part of the very DNA of the firm? What’s your view? Tweet This! Digg this!

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I've been using the term "Digital Body Language" on this blog quite a lot for obvious reasons. However, I have not really taken a moment to define the term, as I realized recently after a presentation on the topic. So what is it? What we are referring to when we talk about Digital Body Language is the aggregate of all the digital activity you see from an individual.

We get it. From writing technical bulletins for your sales force to composing a speech for your CEO, our technically oriented staff of engineers, account managers and marketers will produce deliverables that make sense for your business with results you can measure. We are distinctive due to our technical aptitude , industry knowledge and business acumen. Combined with a comprehensive portfolio of marketing tools and top-notch creative, these attributes enable us to develop innovative strategies and compelling concepts that accurately and effectively position your products and services.

At a recent ANA conference I was interviewing Brian Wallace VP of Digital Marketing and Media for RIM when I heard him say “2 years from now- if I still have a Director of Social Media – I should be fired! and after thinking about that I can’t help but agree with him. Said differently how do we make social part of the very DNA of the firm? What’s your view? Tweet This! Digg this!

I’m probably biased, but I believe the primary objective of business-to-business marketing is driving sales of the company’s products and services. Of course branding and awareness are also roles that can be played effectively by B2B marketing, but from my point of view these are only supporting roles—secondary to the primary objective of helping drive sales. Yet many of these same companies eventually come to the realization that not every prospective customer is ready to buy now. What’s all this have to do with social media? about a survey they recently conducted. Not bad!

Tweet. One of the most fun aspects of marketing planning can be brainstorming. Here are ways to make sure your marketing brainstorming is fun and productive. 1. Invite the right people. Don’t brainstorm in a marketing silo. Invite others who deal with your customers, including customer service, product development, sales, distributors and possibly suppliers or strategic alliance partners. Worst?

With all the micro-blogging, I’ve often wondered whether the number of bloggers who actually create original, substantial content is decreasing. Don’t get me wrong, you can create meaningful thought in 140 characters, but it’s a lot easier to write 140 characters (no matter how well crafted) than it is to consistently create original content for [.].

There are many things that work well in the Webinar invitation below from Salesforce.com, but one of my favorite elements is the smallest: the link at the top left corner that reads: “View on a PDA.” Click and you’re linked to a hosted, plain text, narrow-column version of the same message. In a [.].

25 B2B marketing thought leaders answer the question "What do you expect to B2B marketers to be doing more of or differently in 2016?" The results are amazing insights around content marketing, achieving business results, alignment, employee advocacy, new technologies, customer experience and more.

Pete Krainik of the CMO Club posted thirteen books that members of the CMO club have recommended. Great list : Breakthrough Marketing Plans: How to Stop Wasting Time and Start Driving Growth. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant. Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur. Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. Leading Change. Marketing Champions: Practical Strategies for Improving Marketing's Power, Influence, and Business Impact.

We're frequently asked for any tips we might have for people writing proposal responses to Requests for Proposals (RFP) that they've received. After finding us through the RFP Database , seeing the abundance of RFPs that it contains, and knowing that all of those RFPs are open competitions, the natural question is "if I'm going to spend time writing a proposal it has got to be a winner". Faced with the situation of having to read 300+ pages of different vendors' proposals many people read the first page and then start skimming, and if they're not skimming, their minds are probably going numb.

Needless to say, Marketing Automation software is very popular today. It can be used for email campaigns, drip marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, landing page management and for brewing coffee. It is often positioned as something that will solve all your marketing problems for a couple of thousand dollars per month. Okay, I made up the part about brewing coffee. Unclear Prospect Profile(s).

I seldom write personal posts but I'm making an exception to share my joy. Lydia Faith Carroll was born on 7/8/09. She is 7lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. Mindy and Lydia are doing great! Lydia getting some rest : ). Our first family photo with Lydia. happy family of five! feel very grateful and blessed

There is a lot of talk these days that personalization is back in marketing but what does that really mean and what are some of the tactics you can use? This is important : Besides all of the technology out there that can make this process easier, it’s important to keep in mind that the goal is to create engaging experiences for your customers and potential customers so that they will respond and ultimately purchase your products and services. personalized approach facilitates this process. I've listed the top tactics that I typically discuss in my day to day client meetings. What do you do?

Subscribe by RSS InboundMarketing.com Home News Jobs Forums University Search this site: Home Inbound Marketing University Posted May 5th, 2009 by Rick Burnes Register for IMU | Class Schedule | Professors | Student Tools | IMU Badges | Partners | Student Bulletin Board >>Click here to attend this weeks classes! **By clicking the above link, you will have access to the upcoming and recorded webinars. NOTE: If you have not registered for IMU, you will be prompted to register when clicking the above link! The IMU program includes ten webinar classes and one review session. No problem.

an interesting post by steve johnson talks about marketing not being a list, but rather an approach to solving customers problems and helping buyers to buy. as marketers, we sometimes fall victims of the routine day-to-day tactical

What should be the offer on your B2B’s landing page, for visitors clicking through from a pay per click ad? Many software and SaaS companies think that a downloadable trial version of their product is just the ticket. Why not just cut to the chase, and sidestep all that messy nurturing? And after all, our product [.].

Tweet. One of the networks I belong to, ProVisors , advocates the use of one-sheets or one-pagers that describe each member’s differentiators and the benefits of the service(s) they provide. See samples at the end of this post.) These one-sheets are important, because in each ProVisors meeting there are about thirty different service providers giving their elevator pitch to the group. The Grabber.

The next interview in the B2B Marketing thought leader interview series is with Terry Whalen, a partner at CPC Search , a full-service SEM agency that optimizes PPC campaigns on behalf of its clients. This interview is focused on search engine marketing as it relates specifically to B2B. Prior to running CPC Search, Terry led marketing initiatives at Citrix’s GoToMyPC, and before that he received his MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. How is B2B PPC campaign management different from B2C? Picture an e-commerce company selling products via credit card on its website.

I spent most of last week helping an engineering firm prepare for an important shortlist interview. While each interview is different, there are some common themes in my approach. Some of my advice seems to diverge from the conventional wisdom in our industry. Yet I've enjoyed good success and my discussions with clients have validated my ideas about the process. That won't help you create comfort.

There were days in my lead gen life where I could have easily left for lunch and not come back for four hours. MIT data shows that that might have been a good idea! Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power just highlighted last year's MIT / InsideSales.com study of outbound prospecting lead conversion. It got me thinking. Layer the times together and stagger them for time zone.

The situation: A potentially juicy RFP falls into your lap. You try not to get too excited because you know that creating a winning proposal can be an expensive and time-consuming affair. Before you get invested in the project proposal you want to determine whether this is, in fact, a worthwhile project for you to chase, or one that you should pass. Companies should always be taking a hard look and evaluating their leads as a way of increasing their win percentage and return on investment (proposal writing), but this is especially important in today's tough economic environment.

Recently, I've been spending a lot of time evaluating and writing web copy for clients. Not only have I discovered that I really love this type of work, but I am also seeing common trends of what websites do well and where they could do better. It should go without saying that your website should be aimed at your prospects and customers, but, perhaps surprisingly or not, this isn't often the case.

Research shows that about 80% of leads marketers generate end up getting lost, ignored or discarded. So, instead of continually struggling to find new leads for Sales, marketers should begin focusing on developing effective lead management processes for converting more leads into sales pipeline. In fact, in a recent lead generation poll I conducted through my LinkedIn group, I found that converting leads to pipeline revenue was the biggest challenge for marketers. The key is to look back at your past marketing activities to find the gold that’s been lost in the Sales and Marketing pipelines.

Do you hesitate to jump on the social media bandwagon with your company? Concerned about what happens when an employee shares insider information? Social media is inherently dynamic, even chaotic. Provide no guidance and you likely end up damaging your brand. Be too restrictive and your social media initiative will never take off, putting you at a competitive disadvantage. Clear policies help you better navigate this new communication channel and provide guidance to your audience as to what is ok to post and what isn't.

HOME | RSS FEEDS | SITEMAP | CLIENT ZONE | CONTACT US Who we are What we do Our clients About Velocity Our blog The B2B Content Marketing Workbook.by Doug Kessler Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 Your prospects are being buffeted by a firehose of information. If you’re hoping to win their attention, you’d better be prepared to earn it. Content Marketing is your way to cut through the noise and hop over the barriers. So we hope you don’t mind our asking for a little info (it’s worth it) and we promise not to spam you. Add Comment Click here to cancel reply. Come and get it!

Big thanks to Mike O'Grady at Stella Pop for putting out the latest edition of eVidmagazine featuring yours truly. Although Mike was originally thinking a two or three minute video interview, he decided that the video worked best as a 10 minute segment. Hey, he's the expert, so I'm not going to disagree with him. In simplest terms, that's what it means to be a publisher. hmmm, why not?

In any number of recent posts, we’ve always included LinkedIn in our Holy Trinity of B2B-useful social-media networks. Recently, Dianna Huff took another look at LinkedIn in her guest-post for Savvy B2B Marketing and concluded: “In the last year or so, LinkedIn has significantly increased its functionality – making the business networking site a great way [.].

This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals. My guest today is Stephanie Miller , email expert and co-author of Sign me up! Marketer’s Guide To Email Newsletters That Build Relationships and Boost Sales. Stephanie describes herself as a customer advocate who, through her work with email performance company Return Path , helps marketers reach the inbox and connect with prospects and customers via email and social marketing. Witness your own Junk folder. Yikes!